Pasta alla Trapanese

Ingredients

• 400 g Busiate pasta
• 500 g Cherry tomatoes
• 80 g Blanched almonds
• 1 clove Garlic
• 30 g Basil
• 60 g Pecorino romano
• 80 ml Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 to taste Salt
• 1 to taste Black pepper

Steps

1. Bring a small pot of water to a boil, drop in the almonds for 1 minute, then drain and slip off the skins.
2. Toast the peeled almonds briefly in a dry pan until just fragrant, then let cool.
3. Score a small cross on the base of each cherry tomato, blanch for 30 seconds, then peel.
4. Halve them and squeeze out most of the watery seeds.
5. In a large mortar (or food processor pulsed in short bursts), pound the garlic and a pinch of salt to a paste.
6. Work in the almonds and basil leaves until coarsely broken down.
7. Add the tomatoes and pound to a rough, granular sauce.
8. Stir in the grated pecorino and pour in the olive oil in a thin stream, mixing until creamy.
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the busiate (or spaghetti) until al dente.
11. Drain the pasta, reserving a little cooking water.
12. Toss it off the heat with the raw pesto, loosening with a splash of pasta water until it clings evenly.
13. Serve with a little extra pecorino and a basil leaf.

Tips

• Use the ripest, sweetest cherry tomatoes you can find — the sauce is raw, so flavor comes entirely from quality. A mortar gives the most authentic granular texture; if using a processor, pulse in short bursts so it stays coarse and never turns to a smooth puree.